. >> our nbc colleagues, chief foreign correspondent richard engel and his crew are safe this morning in turkey after they were kidnapped and held inside syria for five days. they were freed last night with an incredible story to tell. engel said they were taken at gunpoint following a deadly firefight while traveling with syrian rebels last week. >> they kept us blindfolded, bound. we weren't physically beaten or tortured. it was a lot of psychological torture. threats of being killed. they made us choose which one of us would be shot first. and when we refused, there were mock shootings. they pretended to shoot gazi several times. blindfolded -- and then they fire the gun up in the air, it can be very traumatic experience. >> during the ordeal, i made -- i made amends with my maker. i made good with my maker. i made good with myself. i was prepared to die. >> richard says he believes his captors were members of a militia loyal to syrian president bashar al assad and that they were planning to use him and his crew in a prisoner exchange. all were freed after another firefight last ni